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Haemonchus contortus Susceptibility and Resistance to Anthelmintics in Naturally Infected Egyptian Sheep

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Abstract

Purpose

Susceptibility and resistance of Haemonchus contortus to anthelmintic drugs, including ivermectin, levamisole, and albendazole in naturally infected sheep were investigated.

Methods

Three sets of assays were conducted to detect drug efficacy. Firstly, in vivo estimation of drug resistance to H. contortus was explored in 80 sheep naturally infected with H. contortus. Sheep were divided into four equal groups (20 sheep for each group): the first group was treated with albendazole (5.00 mg/kg BW), the second with levamisole (7.50 mg/kg BW), the third with ivermectin (0.20 mg/kg BW), and the fourth group served as the untreated control. Fecal egg reduction test (FERT) was done at days 7 and 14 after treatment. Secondly, for in vitro egg hatching assay (EHA), H. contortus eggs from naturally infected sheep were collected and treated with 0.0002, 0.002, 0.02, 0.2, and 2.0 µg/mL albendazole. Thirdly, molecular detection of the albendazole resistance gene in adult male H. contortus worms and larvae from infected sheep was carried out using allele-specific PCR.

Results

The FECRT results showed that the drug efficacy was 86.84% for albendazole and 100% for both levamisole and ivermectin. The result of EHA showed that eggs did not hatch at 2.0 µg/mL albendazole concentration. Molecular findings showed two forms, including H. contortus homozygous susceptible (SS) and heterozygous (RS) of “β-tubulin” gene at 200 sites, which were recorded in both single male worms and larvae.

Conclusion

H. contortus, which was susceptible to levamisole and ivermectin, had developed resistance to albendazole.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the efforts and facilities for this work that were available from Sides station for animal production.

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None was provided funding information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Parasitology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt

    Shawky M. Aboelhadid & Waleed M. Arafa

  2. College of Life Science and Engineering, Foshan University, 18 Jiangwan Street, Foshan, 528231, Guangdong Province, China

    Saeed El-Ashram

  3. Parasitology Department, Animal Health Research Institute, Beni Suef, Egypt

    Asmaa Fathy Noaman & Khalid A. Shokier

  4. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez, Egypt

    Ahmed B. Darwish

  5. Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt

    Morad M. Mahmoud

  6. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Minia University, El-Minia, Egypt

    Sahar M. Gadelhaq

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  1. Shawky M. Aboelhadid
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  2. Waleed M. Arafa
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  4. Asmaa Fathy Noaman
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  5. Khalid A. Shokier
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Correspondence to Shawky M. Aboelhadid.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethics Approval

The animal management and rearing during this experiment was subject to the ethical standards approved by Beni-Suef University ethical committee (BSU, 0112/2018). The experiment was conducted at Sides station for animal production (national station) and the official authority of the station permitted carrying out this study in the sheep sector of the station.

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Aboelhadid, S.M., Arafa, W.M., El-Ashram, S. et al. Haemonchus contortus Susceptibility and Resistance to Anthelmintics in Naturally Infected Egyptian Sheep. Acta Parasit. 66, 329–335 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11686-020-00284-1

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